Delivering Your Presentation
How you deliver your presentation can be as important as what you say. Otherwise, you could write out your presentation and mail it to them. Some people are uncomfortable making sales presentations to groups, especially early in their career. Chapter 7 offered suggestions on developing communication skills, including joining Toastmasters International. In addition, experience will reduce the anxiety that most people face when they are the center of attention.
Professional salespeople know that making effective presentations is a craft; it can be learned. They suggest that you make eye contact with your audience, look around rather than at one point, vary your voice delivery, and keep your body calm and relaxed.
Though you are making your presentation to a group, it is made up of
Throughout your presentation, make eye contact with each participant at least a few times, but not in a recognizable pattern. That is, don't look at the first person on your left, then the next, followed by the next. Instead, look at them in seeming random order and engage them with a smile. Remember that some participants will not be naturally friendly toward you, your ideas, or your presentation. You must win them over with friendliness and trust. Making sincere eye contact can help.
Many presenters identify the primary decision maker in the room and focus all attention on that person. Instead, be democratic. You may know who the decision maker is, but you may not yet recognize those who influence the decision maker.
Instead, look around the group, large or small. Also, use your body movements to direct participants' attention to a slide, a product sample, or other selling tool. If buyers seem uncomfortable with your continual gaze, look off to the walls or ceiling periodically.
Some participants in your presentation may feel obligated to look directly at you as you speak while looking in their direction. This can be good. However, if you would rather they look up to your current slide or presentation sheet, release their gaze by looking away or to the object you want them to see. You are then giving them permission to look elsewhere.
Presentations should be alive and vibrant, not on life support. They should flow logically and smoothly, but they shouldn't be mundane. Within your presentation, you can vary delivery and even style to keep your audience's attention and interest. For example:
Use hesitation to suggest that you are thinking through your next point before delivery.
If you are standing, consider sitting when you want participants to take time to read a specific slide or document.
Vary your voice level from softer to louder as appropriate to make your points.
Build your energy level during the presentation from moderate to high by the end.
If participants look tense, help them relax with some humor or a humorous observation.
As you build your presentation skills, you will develop your own delivery style. However, also watch the styles of others and apply some of their techniques to your repertoire. Each of your audiences will be different; vary your delivery to match the needs of your latest audience.
Public speaking can be stressful, especially at first. The professionals say that the trick is to teach those butterflies in your stomach to fly in formation. Tension is natural, especially when lots of people and dollars seemingly depend on a successful presentation. However, you will discover that the presentation is just one component of a sale and, in some sales, only a formality. The decision to buy or not buy may already be made. In addition, even a bad presentation can often be reversed. So relax!
Professional salespeople have many proven ways to help them relax before a presentation. Here are a few.
Make sure that you have all needed sales tools before you begin so you aren't worried about finding things during the presentation.
Practice your presentation in advance so you are comfortable with your message and delivery.
Take a few moments before the presentation begins to relax your body and your mind with yoga, meditation, or prayer.
Every few minutes, such as when changing a slide or flipping a page, take a deep breath and slowly let it out, then smile.
Also, if you are still nervous, use a support, such as a podium or table, to hold your script or other papers so the shaking of your hands isn't obvious. All public speakers struggle with excessive energy and adrenaline when making presentations. Most learn techniques for controlling it and appearing calm and relaxed.
